Well, there's some good news coming out of all the frustration I've been going through. Seems the major city/county seat where I used to busk has NOT cracked down on street performers, as our local 'grapevine' had suggested. I'm guessing it was a few CERTAIN people who were feeling the pinch because they tried playing in the wrong areas, near upscale businesses that had nothing to do with music (or booze, for that matter).

That means I will, the threat of heat-stroke notwithstanding, be able to get out and play and make some bread sooner than later!

I've been doing some reading and YouTube watching about 'songsters'... people like Mance Lipscomb, Furry Lewis, etc.

How many of these people do you associate with a 'songster' or, dare I say it, 'minstrel' tradition rather than a strictly 'blues' tradition? I dare say that many of the books I have read have lumped guys like Lewis, Lipscomb and others into a 'blues' category simply because they were black, and these same books have called someone like Jimmie Rodgers a 'country' singer or whatever, but rarely give him an unqualified 'blues singer' label, because he was white.

I LOVE the blues, and I LOVE the songster tradition that mixes ballads, dance numbers, blues, work songs and novelty numbers.

Who do you recognize as belonging to that tradition of the 'songster'? Living or dead, modern or vintage.

Thanks!